This is going to be BIG.

NOVEMBER 3, 2014

The fact is, it''s just not cool to criticize the investing side of the venture capital market. I just respectfully don''t see the same opportunity as her investors do, and I reserve the right to be 100% wrong. For her sake, the company''s sake, and their lead investor''s sake, I hope I''m tremendously wrong on this.

Venture Capital 151

Venture Capital Marketing Valuation Lead Investor 151

Feld Thoughts

JULY 28, 2014

The SBIC was instrumental in the creation of the venture capital business. If you want to see a fun quote on it, read A History of Silicon Valley which quotes: “ …many venture capital pioneers think the SBIC program did little to advance the art and practice of venture investing.

SBIC 142

SBIC Venture Capital Colorado SBA 142

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

If you track the venture capital industry it would be hard to miss the conversation going on this week over AngelList “Syndicates.” It should help some entrepreneurs to better access early-stage capital and should allow some angel investors better access to deal flow. So What’s the Big Deal?

Syndicate 356

Syndicate Syndication Cofounder Early Stage 356

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 12, 2017

No entrepreneur wants to think that their business won’t last, but as they burn cash in the developing years they need to consider future implications — particularly funding. If there is insufficient cash, then the company should have a plan to obtain sufficient capital.

San Francisco 133

San Francisco Forecast Early Stage Term Sheet 133

View from Seed

JANUARY 27, 2021

. $100M is a meaningful increase from our $50M third fund, though it’s still quite small in the grand scheme of venture, especially amid the recent wave of late stage financings and SPACs. We believe that this fund is the perfect size for us to be the best possible partners to early-stage entrepreneurs today.

LP 411

LP Early Stage Seed Stage Venture Capital 411

View from Seed

FEBRUARY 26, 2020

In previous blog posts I’ve written about the two main approaches to building a seed round syndicate – the subscription method (where an entrepreneur presets a structure with a convertible note or SAFE and recruits investors who subscribe to the round, all without a term-driving lead investor) and a term-driving lead investor approach.

Syndicate 257

Syndicate Syndication Lead Investor Venture Capital 257

Lightspeed Venture Partners

APRIL 12, 2016

He studied physics and materials engineering at Harvard and MIT and received his MBA from Harvard Business School; so, Alex combines a deep technical background with terrific business and consumer sensibilities, as well as a passion for helping entrepreneurs build their dreams into reality.

Technical Cofounder 60

Technical Cofounder Cofounder SCRUM Committed Capital 60

Gust

SEPTEMBER 27, 2014

To begin with, it is important to understand some basic facts about the world of entrepreneurial finance: There are many more entrepreneurs than there are investors, with the result that only one company out of every 400 that seeks venture funding actually receives it.

Angel Groups 159

Angel Groups Elevator Pitch Software Review Deal Flow 159

Rob Go

SEPTEMBER 4, 2018

Most of these rhyme with what we’ve said in the past, but some have also evolved to fit the changing landscape and our own convictions about what really matters for founders and their investors at the seed stage. Belief #2: Capital is plentiful. Lead investors are few. Belief #1: The best time to invest is early.

North America 36

North America Seed Stage Early Stage Lead Investor 36

A Crowded Space

OCTOBER 3, 2018

Very shortly after I joined, Greg Gretsch (now my partner at Jackson Square Ventures) co-led oDesk’s Series A along with Venky Ganesan (partner at Menlo Ventures and lead investor in Rev.com). Realistically for entrepreneurs, no matter how hard you try, you’re going to make hiring mistakes.

San Francisco 60

San Francisco Bangladesh Ukraine Philippines 60

Hunter Walker

DECEMBER 30, 2022

Why Investing Our Savings Instead of Other People’s Money Let Us Rethink What Venture Capital PMF Looks Like in the Decade Ahead. We announced this change publicly (aka Homebrew Forever ) in February and spent all of 2022 in this mode, revisiting, and in some cases revising, our core assumptions about venture capital.

Cap Table 67

Cap Table Venture Capital Cofounder Portfolio 67

The Next Web

JUNE 6, 2014

Jay Patani is an analyst at EC1 Capital, a London-based early stage, Web technology focused venture capital company. Whilst exact details remain unclear, Tech City declared that companies on the program have access to a team of leading investors, accounting firms and business leaders for ongoing advice and support. .

United Kingdom 141

United Kingdom Europe IPO Early Stage 141

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 5, 2014

I’ve written on the expert network industry a fair amount in the past: see How to Earn More Consulting Revenue from Expert Networks and How Executives Can Work with Private Equity and Venture Capital Portfolio Companies. GLG Share broadens that resource pool to our 400,000 experts around the world and across industries.

New York 114

New York Technical Review Networking Advisory Board 114

Pascal's View

JULY 9, 2017

Andrew Krowne and I recently co-wrote an article in Tech Crunch , Why SAFE Notes Are Not Safe for Entrepreneurs. At its core, this issue points to the lack of understanding about the importance of post-money valuation by both entrepreneurs and investors.

Post-Money Valuation 49

Post-Money Valuation Valuation Cap Table Covenant 49

Genuine VC

JULY 10, 2012

There are essentially two distinct basic strategies for startup entrepreneurs to raise a seed round of capital: Subscription approach – An entrepreneur sets a structure (usually a convertible note) and recruits individual angel investors who subscribe to the round, all without a term-driving lead investor.

Syndicate 207

Syndicate Syndication Seed Stage Portfolio 207

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 3, 2010

This is part of my ongoing series on Understanding Venture Capital. I recently wrote a blog post on understanding how the size and age of a venture capital fund might affect you when you’re raising money. In a world of The Funded, VentureHacks and entrepreneur blogs this kind of informations spreads like wildfire.

Venture Capital 265

Venture Capital Term Sheet Early Stage Silicon Valley 265

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2018

For simplicity I’ll assume you’ve raised some money from angels or seed investors and you’re either raising an A round or a B round of venture capital. I like to start with a list of approximately 40 qualified investors. Remember, I was an entrepreneur for 10 years before a VC). these are simply guidelines.

Term Sheet 332

Term Sheet Due Diligence Campaign Sales 332

This is going to be BIG.

FEBRUARY 27, 2011

This is where your business starts to incur real costs—but it’s also where entrepreneurs don’t like to be short term “sellers” of their equity. They’re hesitant to raise money—selling equity to investors—when things look great.

Dilution 104

Dilution Equity Hiring Partner 104

Professor VC

JANUARY 20, 2009

The Most Important Venture Capital Statistic. million for the year, which is the first time it has been below $5 million since 2001, a sign that capital efficiency will be even more important than it has. Without all of the legacy issues, they have the capital and time to seek, evaluate and actively work on new opportunities.

Venture Capital 28

Venture Capital Silicon Valley San Jose Bootstrapping 28

Professor VC

APRIL 1, 2010

was part of a Dow Jones VentureWire webinar last week titled Negotiating An Angel Deal: What Angels, Entrepreneurs & VCs Need to Know. One comment made by Jason was that angels tend to be less sensitive than VCs on valuation and can potentially make it difficult to get a venture financing done at acceptable valuation. Steve Bennet.

Term Sheet 32

Term Sheet Angel Investor San Jose Venture Capital 32

Feld Thoughts

AUGUST 2, 2010

They are: Fred Wilson: Lead Investors, Dipshit Companies, and Funding Every Entrepreneur. And importantly, Mark encourages all entrepreneurs to make sure they understand a VC’s seed strategy before taking money, which I strongly agree with. Mark Suster: Understanding a VC’s Seed Funding Policy is Critical.

Angel Investor 152

Angel Investor Cofounder Syndicate Syndication 152

www.readwriteweb.com

MARCH 7, 2011

Since the angel network was created, transparent angel investing has exploded and entrepreneurs from any background can get funded. Quickly, startup investing is looking more like the public markets, and power is quickly shifting to the entrepreneur from the investors. To my surprise, VC? Bryce Roberts , a partner at O?

Technical Review 50

Technical Review Due Diligence Startup Angel Investor 50

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 14, 2009

And what I mostly want to do is make entrepreneurs aware that they have nearly as much power as a real board member so you may have more people making decisions at board meeting than you thought you would. This is the real board position that entrepreneurs should concern themselves with. What exactly is a board observer? in a company.

Advisory Board 215

Advisory Board Strategic Investors Venture Capital Later Stage 215

Scott Edward Walker

JUNE 9, 2019

First let’s discuss pro rata rights (sometimes referred to as “participation” or “preemptive” or “right of first offer/refusal” rights) – which investors will typically request in connection with any venture capital financing. This is a huge red flag and founders should push back very hard.

Preferred Stock 56

Preferred Stock Term Sheet Dilution Stock 56

This is going to be BIG.

AUGUST 2, 2010

The other day, Ron Conway said at an event that “ he hopes that any entrepreneur that has “the guts” to start a company gets funded.” Too many entrepreneurs start out their business endeavors with an investment pitch. That’s what makes venture capital such a risky investment.

Startup 101

Startup Venture Capital Incubator Programming 101

The Equity Kicker

AUGUST 24, 2012

This comes on top of a lot of other negative news, including leading investors selling shares in the companies above at minimal profits, and CalPERS, traditionally one of the largest investors in venture capital, announcing that they have made a terrible 0.0 per cent return on venture over the last ten years.

IPO 101

IPO Valuation Silicon Valley Venture Capital 101

reidhoffman.org

NOVEMBER 12, 2013

. × At Greylock , my partners and I are driven by one guiding mission: always help entrepreneurs. It doesn’t matter whether an entrepreneur is in our portfolio, whether we’re considering an investment, or whether we’re casually meeting for the first time. Entrepreneurs often ask me for help with their pitch decks.

Entrepreneur 111

Entrepreneur Revenue Viral Networking 111

Rob Go

JULY 17, 2014

NextView Ventures II is $40M, twice the size of our first fund, and we continue to be exclusively focused on seed-stage companies pursuing internet-enabled innovation. As former operators and product-oriented entrepreneurs, Dave, Lee, and I tend to think of our firm as a startup company and our approach to investing as our product.

Seed Stage 69

Seed Stage Early Stage Due Diligence Liquidity Event 69

This is going to be BIG.

JANUARY 18, 2010

and FashInvest invite the online fashion community to present their startups to the audience and special feedback panel consisting of leading investors in the space. This month's talk is about corporate formation, investor visas and and tax accounting for startups. Tags: Venture Capital & Technology nextNY.

Community 60

Community Cofounder Venture Capital Social Network 60

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 1, 2010

Many (Union Square Ventures, Foundry Group, True Ventures, GRP Partners, Mike Hirshland at Polaris Ventures) do it the right way – we treat it as a normal investment and we don’t have a “options&# strategy with our investment. Many firms do it in a way that can be more detrimental to entrepreneurs.

Post-Money Valuation 298

Post-Money Valuation Term Sheet Warrant Partner 298

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 8, 2010

How To Pitch A Product - A VC : Venture Capital and Technology , August 4, 2010 I've said a bunch of times on this blog that the perfect pitch is a very short intro to provide context followed immediately by a demo. He blogs to 10,000 web entrepreneurs at Software by Rob and co-hosts the podcast Startups for the Rest of Us.

Startup 191

Startup CTO Hire Cofounder Venture Capital 191

The Equity Kicker

DECEMBER 3, 2012

Put simply, his point is that entrepreneurs typically look at opportunities from a product perspective, asking the question ‘is there an opportunity to build something people will really want?’ At the highest level I think Chris is right.

Finance 116

Finance Valuation Lead Investor Startup 116

Rob Go

FEBRUARY 3, 2014

A friend of mine just completed a very successful fundraise for an institutionally led seed-round of capital. Increasingly, these seem to be the most common ways that venture-funded companies get started. This is kind of the equivalent of “I’m in as long as you have a lead” but sounds a lot better. Feel free to call them”.

Term Sheet 73

Term Sheet Due Diligence Valuation Seed Stage 73

David Teten

FEBRUARY 3, 2014

Prior to joining ff Venture Capital , I published the first-ever study of how private equity and venture capital funds originate new investments, with my coauthor Chris Farmer , CEO of SignalFire and an experienced VC. Annual Deal Pipeline for Selected VCs and Angel Investor Groups. Acquirer/ Investor.

Private Equity 114

Private Equity Venture Capital Technical Review Equity 114

Gust

DECEMBER 19, 2011

This is a variation on the first mover argument, implying a paradigm shift that gives you a tremendous lead. Investors will suspect you have a technology looking for a solution. Only our team can make this work.” Investors like realists, but not wimps. This advantage is not sustainable.

Viral 98

Viral Advertising Lead Investor Revenue 98

Reid Hoffman

JANUARY 26, 2021

Selecting your investor board members should be a careful and thoughtful process, even if that means it requires more work. One common mistake is for entrepreneurs to simply select whichever venture capital firm is offering the highest valuation. Or when should a board member be fired?

Startup 36

Startup Equity Early Stage Green 36

David Teten

JULY 12, 2017

Steve Brotma n of Alpha observes, “In general, for any co-investor, the higher the quality of the institutional VC firm lead for the new round and the more reasonable the valuation, the better the odds of a coinvestment. Hence, if Sequoia is the lead and the valuation is reasonable, it’s near 100% chance.

Syndicate 60

Syndicate Syndication Institutional Investors LP 60